NCAA No Longer in Jersey-Selling Business

NCAA President Mark Emmert said Thursday the NCAA is "exiting that business," referring to the selling of jerseys at ShopNCAASports.com. Jay Bilas hammered the NCAA for its archaic and hypocritical nature on Twitter earlier this week.

NCAA rules have been in the spotlight this week after Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel came under scrutiny for allegedly profiting off his own autograph. The NCAA does not allow student-athletes from profiting off their name, image and likeness. That is the main source of an on-going legal battle between the NCAA and former athletes.

"I certainly understand how people can see that as hypocritical," Emmert said today. "There's no compelling reason the NCAA should essentially be reselling paraphernalia from institutions. I can't speak as to why we entered into that enterprise, but it's not appropriate for us, and we're going to exit it."

Jerseys will still be sold, just not under the NCAA umbrella anymore. So don't worry, Buckeye fans, you can still get your favorite jerseys.

Comments

Wait, so that specific website (ShopNCAASports.com) will no longer sell jerseys, but they will still be sold on other retail sites and stores, right? So... where will the earnings from those sales go? Back to the NCAA?

I don't think the money would go to the NCAA. Each vendor -- brick-&-mortar or online -- would get the revenue from such sales and cut a check to the licensor (e.g., Ohio State). So the school gets its cut, and the vendor keeps the rest (after paying its bills, etc.). The only reason the NCAA received any income from selling jerseys is because it acted as a vendor, just like shop.ohiostatebuckeyes.com, College Traditions, etc.

I'm sensing a backpedaling of sorts for the NCAA to try and get out of these types of things while they can (first with EA and now with selling jerseys) before the ruling comes down. It's almost as if they're cutting their losses in anticipation.

Why is the NCAA always a step behind? Did no one seriously see all of this coming? I know a lot of people hate Roger Goodell but he sees the writing on the wall and he is addressing player safety as much as he can to avoid the troubles that it may cause in the future. The NCAA is the exact opposite. The are always reactive rather than proactive. You would think that with all of these collegiate "intellectuals" making decisions they would be able to find a leader that can make the right decisions for the future.

I have a problem with people that complain about a system that enabled for them to receive an education, because of their athletic talents, that they might not have received otherwise. Bilas and every other 'analyst' that wants for players to receive extra stipends, have no concept of how free market economics work, even though that's what they think they are campaigning for. I have no problem with a player making money off of his own name, that is a principle of a free market, but attempting to distribute stipends evenly to players on a team is not a sign of a free market, as certain players are more valuable than others. The analysts that argue for handing out stipends talk about how the system doesn't allow for capitalism/a free market, when arguing for equal stipends isn't capitalism/a free market principle either.
Also, Bilas is a raging hypocrite. He received an education from Duke due to an athletic scholarship and he now earns a majority of his living as a college basketball analyst that discusses NCAA basketball, which is the very system he apparently so despises, even though it provided him with an education, and a current income (I do realize that Bilas is also a lawyer).

Umm, you must not really be listening to what Bilas has been saying. Because what I heard him say, especially when Ohio State was going through Tat gate, is exactly what you said about players being able to make money off of his own name like olympic athletes, not stipends.

Bilas is absolutely on point demonstrating how the NCAA is in court(the O'bannon case) claiming that they are not profiting off the name and likeness of players, while they are blatantly doing exactly that out in the open. His Twitter tirade just shined some light on this farce.
I'm fine with players not receiving additional stipends etc.(although it's fine if they do IMO) However, it is BS that a player like TP gets run out of college football for selling/trading HIS OWN FREAKING POSESSIONS. If Manzeil wants to sell his own autographs, more power to him. Same for any other player. The NCAA would be much better off changing some of their asinine policies on their own before the courts do it for them.

Bilas is a grade A D-bag. I don't see names on those jerseys. So the consumer is buying a jersey of the school they are a fan of with a number they like. I have 2 or 3 tOSU jerseys that when asked who that number is, I can say about 5 different players...Bilas's point proves nothing. If the jerseys had NAMES on them, then I would see a problem.

"At critical moments throughout the season, we learned about the character of this football team. This was a team of true character, of true resilience." -- President Barack Obama

You would be correct if they sold #2 or #5 jerseys every year. #2 was only a high seller when TP was here. #5 is a big seller now. #28 and 33 were big sellers with Beanie and Laurinaitis. However, I can say with almost certainty that those numbers are not big sellers now (compared to #5).
Also Bilas' point was that he searched the players' names on the ShopNCAA and it came up with their jerseys. You cannot tell me that is not hypocritical and profiting off the players currently on the roster.

Columbus to Pasadena: 35 hours. We're on a road trip through the desert looking for strippers and cocaine... and Rose Bowl wins!

Maybe you missed Bilas's point. It wasn't that the NCAA was selling a generic aTm #2 jerseys, it was that if you search "Manziel", the search result is an aTm #2 jersey. So the NCAA is effectively offering for sale a Manziel jersey, making money off Johnny Football's likeness.
Take a look at the college football jersey offerings at any school. There are 99 possible numbers to be printed (100, if you include "0", I guess), but only one or two handfuls of those numbers will actually be available -- and I guarantee that each of those available numbers can be directly linked to a current or recent-past star of that school's team. That is not a coincidence.

Yes. Because otherwise the NCAA's argument in the O'Bannon case fails completely. Past-star names may be OK. I noticed on College Traditions' website, they have "Nike Legends" jerseys for Spielman, Byars, and Carter with their names on them. I would assume that those former players get a cut or receive some royalty for those sales.

The NCAA is an absolute joke. With all the botched investigations and bad publicity recently they had to make this move. I have no doubt they would have continued to sell jerseys and make $ off of these athletes if Bilas or any other person with a voice/outlet hadn't called them out. Accountability folks, everyone needs to have some. I say good for Bilas, and screw you NCAA!!!

I just think it's cool that pretty much one guys observation on a NCAA shop website and a twitter account smacked down the NCAA. He probably cost them a few million in sales they aren't going to get now. That shits funny. How weak is the NCAA.

I find this hilarious........
However, I have to ask: Why did it take an investigation into Johnny Manziel (a rockstar from the SEC) for someone to defend players taking cash for use of their own name and likeness, etc.? How come nobody in the media was clamoring about like Jay Bilas when Tatgate went down? Instead, the media was shaming our players for making bad decisions. If there was anyone publicly defending our guys, I must've missed it.....